Rebel Hard (Hard Play #2)

by Nalini Singh

  Cradling her head in his hands, he said, “I will do everything in my power to make sure you never regret being my wife.”

  “I could never regret being with you.” Fierce words.

  Raj wished he could believe her, but he’d seen her joy in living life on her terms, heard her excitement as she looked up the distant shores she wanted to travel. Raj wouldn’t be traveling anywhere for a long time, not with his father sick, Adi so young, and Navin suffering a personal breakdown.

  There was no one to take over the business if he left, no one to ensure the livelihood of not just his own family, but of all those who worked for him. “We don’t have to live on my parents’ land,” he promised her, because that was one thing he could give her. “After my father is on solid ground again, we’ll buy our own plot and I’ll build you a house all your own.”

  Nayna’s smile was lopsided. “We’ll talk about that later,” she said, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. “Right now the only thing I’m worried about is having an avocado-green background to our wedding photos.” She shuddered. “What’re our chances of convincing your uncle to let us put on a coat of white paint?”

  “Nil to zero,” Raj said, silently vowing that he’d find her a better venue.

  If he couldn’t give Nayna freedom, at least he’d give her a wedding day filled with happiness.

  Wrapping his arms around her, he held her next to his heart… and tried to forget his dreams of a Nayna who flew to him on her own wings, without manipulation or coercion or guilt. Just because she wanted to be his wife.

  * * *

  Needless to say, Nayna’s parents were overjoyed when she and Raj became actively involved in the wedding preparations. Raj’s parents were exactly the same. Rather than being in any way annoyed or angered, Jitesh Sen—still in the hospital—brightened like a light bulb when Raj announced that the golf clubhouse would not do.

  Arms folded and voice unbending, Raj said, “Nayna deserves as beautiful a wedding location as her sister.”

  Falling in love with him all over again for fighting for her, Nayna was about to say something when Sangeeta Sen broke in. “Raj is right.” A scowl between her brows. “I mean, how will it look for the Sharmas if one daughter gets a fancy wedding in a five-star hotel and the other only gets a golf club? No, no, what were we thinking?”

  “Also, the place is like a seventies disco palace,” Aditi put in suddenly, having apparently pulled up the location on her phone and found photos. “Look, Ma.”

  Sangeeta Sen blanched at what she saw. “Dhiraj said it was all renovated!”

  Aditi’s smile peeked out for the first time since her father’s second operation. “That’s the worst part. This article says it just underwent a million-dollar makeover!” Giggling, she walked over to show her father the pictures.

  “Nothing wrong with green and orange,” Jitesh said, his breathing uneven but a smile on his face. “Remember, Geeta, when we went dancing before we found our Raj?”

  “Hush, Tesh.” Sangeeta Sen brushed her hand over her husband’s balding head, the love in the simple action bringing tears to Nayna’s eyes. “But this isn’t modern. Raj and Nayna are young, should have a modern place.”

  “True, true.” Raj’s father smiled. “Anything you want, beta, beti.” After a sip of juice held out by his wife, he said, “It’s even okay if we have to go out of town for a nice place. It can be one of those location weddings!”

  Hauling down Raj by a grip on the front of his shirt once they were out of his father’s room, Nayna kissed him all over his face until his lips finally began to curve. The weight on her heart that had refused to budge for two long days, ever since she’d agreed to marriage—and Raj had gone quiet—finally lifted.

  “You’re a wonderful man.” She kissed his cheeks, then his jaw. “Hallelujah for no more avocado green!”

  A giggle reached them.

  Shifting on her heel, Nayna wrapped an arm around Aditi, who’d been taking photos of them, and said, “Give up the contraband.”

  Aditi held the phone out of reach.

  Taller than both of them, Raj plucked it out of her grasp, then tapped in her unlock code with big-brother knowledge that had Aditi laughingly protesting her privacy. Nayna was looking at Raj when he saw the first photo, and her stomach, it went into free fall. God, his smile.

  No, she wouldn’t regret being Raj’s wife.

  * * *

  In contrast to both sets of parents, Nayna’s best friend frowned when Nayna told her what was going on. The two of them were sitting on Nayna’s couch, sharing a tub of colorful gumdrop ice cream, both of them in their pj’s. Ísa had told her fiancé she was having a girls’ night, and Nayna would’ve done the same with Raj if he hadn’t called her earlier to confess he could feel his body reaching the limit after weeks of stress and low sleep.

  Nayna had ordered him to go to bed at once. “I’ll cuddle you later.”

  His laughter had curled her toes.

  Now Ísa said, “You sure, Nayna?”

  After digging out another spoonful of ice cream chunky with chewy gumdrops, Nayna pointed it at her friend. “I get to go to bed with Raj every single night. And I get to wake up with his smile every morning.” Her insides went all melty at the thought of it. “I’m sure.”

  Ísa still looked troubled. “Will it be enough? Being a wife and living a steady, everyday life? I’m a homebody, but you always had other dreams.”

  “Yes, it’ll be wonderful,” Nayna said because she would permit nothing else. “As for steady and everyday… there is one thing I’m considering.” She told her friend about her hunger to get involved with a start-up, help it rise.

  Ísa listened intently, then tapped her lower lip. “I’ve got a possibility for you, but you’d be doing it for no money until the investors sign on—extra work around your actual job.”

  “I won’t do anything risky workwise until Raj’s father is better anyway,” Nayna said. “You know how my parents will worry if I give up a stable job. The Sens are the same.” And the last thing she wanted was to create more stress on any level. “So something I can do around my current work would be perfect. What have you got?”

  “It’s Sailor,” Ísa began, excitement in her voice. “He’s come up with an innovative new concept that I think has the potential to be huge.”

  Poetry-loving Ísa was the Dragon’s daughter—and Jacqueline Rain had made millions in business. Love or not, Ísa wouldn’t say something like that unless she believed absolutely in it. Nayna listened.

  * * *

  The next day, while Raj was lying next to Nayna, both their chests heaving after an explosive quickie squeezed in between the end of the workday and an upcoming visit to the hospital, his future wife mentioned her possible change in direction.

  “Nothing’s settled yet,” she added, “but I’m excited about it.”

  “Then you should do it,” Raj said at once, rolling over so that he was braced on one arm beside her, the hand of his other on her abdomen. “I love my work. I want the same for you.” He never wanted Nayna unhappy—and at least in this, he could make sure her dreams came true.

  “It’ll be risky at the start,” she said, closing her hand over his. “Pay’s likely to be a pittance and the hours will be brutal.”

  “Money won’t be a problem,” Raj said, then stilled, suddenly conscious of her fierce need for freedom. “If you don’t mind me stepping in to cover things while you get on your feet.”

  “No, I don’t mind,” Nayna said, poking a gentle finger into his chest. “As long as you keep on letting me prop you up when needed too. We’re a team. No one-way traffic allowed.”

  The tension draining out of him, Raj said, “Yes, we’re a team.” It felt so fucking good to say that and to hear Nayna say it. “As for the hours, by then Dad should be fine, so it’ll only impact me and you.” He moved again, this time so he was braced full length over her. “I’ll deal with the home side of things, you conquer the business worl
d, and we’ll meet in the middle. Naked.”

  His last word made her laugh and wrap her legs around his hips. As she tried to tip him over, the two of them wrestling playfully, Raj prayed that this was how it would always be, that his Nayna would find joy with him even when his responsibilities kept the two of them pinned to the earth.

  44

  Oh, Madhuri. How Could You?

  Two days later and Raj’s father had been at home for over twenty-four hours and, Nayna was pleased to hear, was already up to short walks around the house. The rest of the time, he and Raj’s mother apparently spent making wedding plans, both of them happy and engaged. Aditi often joined in to—in her words—head off any future disco ideas.

  Relieved his family was heading back on track—Komal and Navin not included—Raj swung by to see Nayna after work, and the two of them put together a delicious dinner with zero drama and multiple kisses. That was when she discovered her gorgeous hunk could actually cook.

  “Used to do it all the time when my parents were running the company,” he told her while expertly adding spices to a chicken dish. “Aditi was only little, and Navin not even in high school.”

  “I assumed your grandparents must’ve babysat you.”

  “They did, but my aji’s got arthritis, so I’d take over in the kitchen when her joints got bad, while my aja supervised Adi and Navin. She’d instruct and I’d do as I was told.” He let her taste the dish, smiled that slow, sinful smile at her moan of delight. “I figured out after a while that it was like building. Construct a good foundation and even bad décor won’t mess it up.”

  “Keep talking sexy to me and I’ll drag you off to bed in a second.”

  He turned off the stove, took off his shirt, and Nayna’s panties just fell off.

  * * *

  An hour later, her body sated in a bone-deep way and a belated but delicious dinner in her belly, Nayna was closest to the door when someone knocked—Raj was grabbing an apple out of her fridge. “It’s probably my neighbor.” The elderly man often popped over for a cup of tea and a chat.

  But the man on the other side wasn’t harmless Mr. Franklin.

  “Madhuri’s run away.” Dr. Sandesh Patel’s words were a dousing of ice water, his eyes black chips. “She says she’s in love with someone else.”

  Raj walked out right then. “Nayna, is—” His eyes fell on the scene in the doorway and on her ashen face. “What’s happened?” He put the apple in his hand on her small hallway table.

  “Her sister has run away.” Sandesh thrust his phone at Raj. “Read this.”

  “Come in and shut the door,” Raj said before turning his attention to the message.

  Trembling inside, her head stuffy and too full, Nayna leaned up against Raj and scanned the message.

  Dear Sandesh, I’m so sorry to do this to you, but I just can’t go through with the wedding. I thought I could, but the closer it gets, the more panicked I feel. And I’ve finally realized it’s because I’m not in love with you. I’m in love with someone else. I didn’t mean to break your heart. Thank you for being so good to me. – Maddie

  Raj put one arm around her. “When did you get this?”

  “Just before I drove here from my office.” Sandesh turned his icy gaze on Nayna. “Did you know?”

  “Sandesh.” Raj’s tone was harder than stone. “You do not talk to Nayna like that.”

  The doctor flinched, clearly unused to being addressed in that tone, but it seemed to get through. “No, I shouldn’t. I’m sorry.” The anger cracked, exposing desperation and hurt. “Why would she do this?” The words were a plea this time. “Did you know there was someone else?”

  Having drawn several deep breaths in the interim, Nayna could think again. “No,” she answered. As far as she was aware, Madhuri hadn’t seen the surfer since her engagement. “She gave you no clue?” Anger began to simmer in her, that her sister would take such a damaging and impulsive action a second time around.

  And to do it now? Only two weeks before her wedding?

  “Nothing, and we had dinner just last night.” Sandesh paced the narrow space. “I took her to the revolving restaurant in the Sky Tower because she likes to watch the sunset from there.” His fingers trembled as he thrust them through his hair. “Afterward, we went for a walk along Mission Bay. It was fine. Everything was fine.”

  Nayna knew Madhuri and the doctor hadn’t yet been intimate, so she didn’t ask if they’d spent the night together. Sandesh Patel was old-fashioned in his courtship, and Madhuri seemed happy with that. She’d told Nayna how much she loved how he treated her. It just didn’t make any sense.

  “Have you tried to call her?” Raj asked.

  “I set my car’s system to dial her the entire way here. But she won’t answer.”

  Digging out her own phone, Nayna sent her sister a message, figuring Madhuri was more likely to reply to that: Are you okay?

  The answer came within seconds: I’m safe.

  After passing on the message to Sandesh, Nayna typed another: I need to talk to you, Maddie. What’s going on? I’m going to call you.

  No response to the message or the call. Not then, and not in the frustrating quarter hour that followed as Nayna touched base with Anjali and Jaci. She had to be delicate about what she asked, because if Madhuri hadn’t shared her plans with her friends, then Nayna wasn’t about to betray her and have the information spread.

  “Hi, Anj,” she said with forced cheer. “Is Maddie with you? I’m trying to track her down to show her the cake topper I finally found, but I think her phone might be flat.”

  “It must be if she hasn’t called you screaming in excitement” was Anjali’s laughing response. “She’s determined to have that topper and that topper only. Anyway, I haven’t talked to her today.” A child’s cry in the background. “Got to go. Send me a pic of the topper if it’s the one Maddie wants. I can’t wait to see it.”

  Jaci said much the same.

  By the time Nayna hung up from that call, otherwise stiff and contained Sandesh Patel was close to going to pieces, but he remained unwilling to give up on Madhuri.

  “I didn’t go to your parents for this reason,” he said. “I knew they would feel so much shame. I don’t want that between me and my in-laws when Madhuri and I get married.”

  His voice broke, and Nayna could see him pulling himself together with conscious effort of will. “I thought, she’s your sister. Maybe you can talk sense into her before this gets out. The wedding can go ahead and no one will ever know—I can understand if she’s having jitters. I know she had a bad first marriage.”

  Yes, this man was very much madly in love with Nayna’s sister. “I’ll try to track her down,” she promised. “But you have to understand, if she really is in love with someone else and doesn’t want to come back, I won’t force her.” Angry as she was with Madhuri, they remained sisters, and Nayna’s loyalty had to be to her.

  Lines of strain on Sandesh’s face, but he nodded. “No force. I waited a long time to marry, and I want a happy married life. But I need to understand why. Why did she say yes? Was it only because I’m rich and respectable? Did she ever care for me?”

  Nayna felt the same need for answers and said so to Raj after he returned from driving Sandesh Patel home. Neither one of them had trusted the other man behind the wheel of a car in his current emotional state. His dark blue Mercedes was parked on the street in front of Nayna’s apartment and should be safe enough in the residential neighborhood.

  “This is what your sister did before.” Raj’s words held no judgment. “Do you think she’d repeat her mistake?”

  “Before today, I would’ve bet everything that she wouldn’t,” Nayna said, her mind awash in memories of her conversation with Madhuri the night Sandesh and his family had come over—her sister had been so peaceful, so determined to put the past behind her. Not only that, but she’d displayed a distinct attraction to the doctor.

  “Obviously,” she added, “I don’t know
her as well as I thought I did.” Nayna thrust a hand through her hair. “I called my parents and asked if Madhuri was there—Ma said she was off visiting out-of-town friends and wouldn’t be home for a couple of days, but when I called the hotel Madhuri said she’d be at, they had no guest with that name.”

  Anger bubbled in the pit of her stomach. “She lied to my mother, she broke up with her fiancé by text message, and now she isn’t answering my calls or messages.” Nayna folded her arms, her hand squeezing her phone. “What possible explanation can she have for acting this way? If she wanted to call off the wedding, fine, but do it like an adult. Why cut and run?”

  “Is it possible she needs a couple of days’ time out and then she’ll be back?”

  Nayna pressed her lips together. “I have no idea. I don’t trust my sister very much right now.” It was the lie to their mother that caught in her craw the most; Madhuri had witnessed how Shilpa Sharma was at last breaking out of her shell to assert herself with their father. It had taken their mother decades and the near-banishment of a second daughter to find her voice.

  If she discovered what Madhuri had done, it would not only hurt her, it would make her doubt her instincts at a critical time. “I am not going to wait around for her to decide to be an adult, but I can’t work out where she might’ve gone.”

  “Navin watches true crime shows on TV sometimes.” Raj rubbed at his jaw. “I saw an episode with him where a cop said most people who run tend to go to a familiar place. Especially when stressed—they don’t have the emotional capacity to think of a brand-new place to hide.”

  Nayna’s mind flashed to the image she’d seen on Madhuri’s phone. Of that cottage by the ocean. A cottage with a name. “Wait.” Grabbing her laptop, she got it going, then typed in “Seagrass Cottage,” centering her search on New Zealand.

  It was the first hit. A listing on a small local website that advertised vacation homes turned into short-term rentals.